You can now play with that feature yourself. Google quietly released a new version of its Google Earth program for Android today that adds 3D maps of 14 regions, just about all of which are in the U.S.:

Boston

Boulder

Charlotte

Lawrence

Los Angeles

Long Beach

Portland

Rome

San Antonio

Santa Cruz

San Diego

San Francisco Bay Area

Tampa

Tucson

In a post announcing the feature, Google says it will add more cities "in the coming months" with enough to cover "a combined population of 300 million people," by year's end. Included in the new software is a tour feature that points users towards cities that have a third dimension.

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The feature is still not on Apple's iOS platform, though Google says it's still working on it and will have a version with 3D maps "soon." As you might remember, Google demoed it for the first time on an iPad, running a pre-release version of Google Maps.

Google's newest 3D technology comes well ahead of Apple's own 3D mapping efforts, which is being released as part of the Maps app in iOS 6. A beta version of that software was delivered to developers at Apple's World Wide Developers Conference a few weeks ago, with a full release to come this fall.

About the author

Josh Lowensohn joined CNET in 2006 and now covers Apple. Before that, Josh wrote about everything from new Web start-ups, to remote-controlled robots that watch your house. Prior to joining CNET, Josh covered breaking video game news, as well as reviewing game software. His current console favorite is the Xbox 360.
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